Oriented conductive oxide electrodes on SiO2/Si and glass

ABSTRACT

A thin film structure is provided including a silicon substrate with a layer of silicon dioxide on a surface thereof, and a layer of cubic oxide material deposited upon the layer of silicon dioxide by ion-beam-assisted-deposition, said layer of cubic oxide material characterized as biaxially oriented. Preferably, the cubic oxide material is yttria-stabilized zirconia. Additional thin layers of biaxially oriented ruthenium oxide or lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide are deposited upon the layer of yttria-stabilized zirconia. An intermediate layer of cerium oxide is employed between the yttria-stabilized zirconia layer and the lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide layer. Also, a layer of barium strontium titanium oxide can be upon the layer of biaxially oriented ruthenium oxide or lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide.  
     Also, a method of forming such thin film structures, including a low temperature deposition of a layer of a biaxially oriented cubic oxide material upon the silicon dioxide surface of a silicon dioxide/silicon substrate is provided.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to highly oriented conducting layers on SiO₂/Si and glass. This invention was made with government support under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-36 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The government has certain rights in the invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Conductive electrodes such as ruthenium oxide (RuO₂) and lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide (La_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)CoO₃ generally referred to as LSCO) have been extensively studied as electrode materials for thin film capacitors in which ferroelectric/paraelectric materials are used as dielectrics. Exemplary structures are shown in the following patents. U.S. Pat. No. 5,519,235 relates to a ferroelectric capacitor heterostructure wherein an amorphous SiO₂ surface on a silicon wafer surface is initially primed or coated with a thin layer of titanium, tantalum or titanium dioxide and then coated with a thin layer of a metal such as platinum for the subsequent polycrystalline growth of metallic oxide electrode materials such as LSCO, RuO_(x), and SrRuO₃. U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,298 relates to formation of crystalline metal oxide thin films such as LSCO employing a layered perovskite, such as bismuth titanate (BTO), template layer to initiate c-axis orientation in LSCO and PZT overlayers. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,564 used a layer of BTO on a silicon dioxide layer prior to a layer of LSCO. The interlayers of BTO are c-axis oriented only, i.e., uniaxially oriented.

[0003] Conductive RuO₂, which has a rutile structure and tetragonal unit cell with a=b=0.44902 nanometers (nm), c=0.31059 nm, has been widely studied recently due to its unique properties compared to other oxide materials. High electrical conductivity, thermal stability, and chemical resistance make RuO₂ very attractive in a variety of applications. Amorphous or polycrystalline RuO₂ thin films have been deposited on a variety of substrates, such as oxidized silicon (SiO₂/Si), silicon (Si), quartz, glass, and magnesium oxide (MgO). Recently, epitaxial RuO₂ thin films have been grown on lattice matched substrates such as LaAlO₃, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), YSZISi, and sapphire. The growth of highly textured RuO₂ on SiO₂/Si is more relevant in electronic devices since SiO₂ is almost exclusively used as a field oxide, as a passivation layer, or as an isolation material in silicon-based circuitry. Highly textured RuO₂ is preferable for use as electrodes in dielectric thin film capacitors because well oriented electrodes can further enhance the electrical and dielectric properties of dielectric materials. Nevertheless, all the previous RuO₂ films deposited on SiO₂/Si show polycrystalline or uniaxial normal alignment (random in-plane orientation).

[0004] The conductive oxide La_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)CoO₃ (LSCO), which has a psuedo-cubic lattice constant of 0.3835 nm and a room temperature resistivity of 90 μΩ-cm, has been extensively studied as an electrode material for ferroelectric thin film capacitors, where the dielectric materials can be PbZr_(x)Ti_(1−x)O₃ (PZT) or lanthanum-modified PZT. The improved device performance obtained by using LSCO as an electrode material, compared with the use of conventional platinum, has been attributed to the better structural/chemical compatibility and the cleaner interface (less charged defects) between LSCO and the dielectric materials. Fewer oxygen vacancies within the near interface region of the ferroelectric layer may also contribute to superior device performance.

[0005] For applications of LSCO films such as electrodes for nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memories (NFRAMs), epitaxial and/or well-textured LSCO films are preferable. The reduced grain-boundary scattering from an epitaxial LSCO film leads to lower resistivity of the film, which is a prerequisite for high frequency applications. As a bottom electrode and/or seed layer for ferroelectric thin film capacitors, well textured LSCO films also induce epitaxial or preferential oriented growth in subsequently deposited ferroelectric films. This is important since a highly oriented ferroelectric layer can produce a larger remnant polarization compared to a randomly oriented ferroelectric layer.

[0006] Epitaxial and/or well-textured LSCO films have been grown on SrTiO₃, MgO, LaAlO₃ and yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The growth of well-textured LSCO on technically important SiO₂/Si is more relevant in microelectronic devices since SiO₂ is almost exclusively used as a field oxide, a passivation layer, and/or an isolation material in silicon-based circuitry. Highly oriented LSCO on SiO₂/Si has been accomplished by using Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ as a template (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,564). Nevertheless, the LSCO films deposited on SiO₂/Si by this method show only uniaxial normal alignment with random in-plane orientation. The growth of well-textured or biaxially oriented LSCO films (both normal to and in the film plane) on SiO₂/Si has not previously been accomplished.

[0007] Improved electric/dielectric properties of PbZr_(x)Ti_(1−x)O₃ (PZT), BaTiO₃, SrTiO₃, and Ba_(x)Sr_(1−x)TiO₃ have been observed by using LSCO and/or RuO₂ as the electrode materials, as compared to the use of conventional platinum electrodes. Both amorphous and/or polycrystalline thin films of RuO₂ or LSCO have been previously deposited on SiO₂/Si substrates. The growth of highly oriented or well textured RuO₂ and LSCO thin films on SiO₂/Si substrates is preferable for electrodes in dielectric thin film capacitors as such highly oriented or well textured electrodes can further enhance the electrical and dielectric properties of subsequently deposited dielectric materials.

[0008] Existing technology does not provide highly oriented conductive oxides on substrates such as amorphous SiO₂/Si and glass. The difficulties of forming such oriented layers on amorphous or polycrystalline substrates are due to seed growth. A structure of epitaxial RuO₂/YSZ/SiO₂/Si (with a SiO₂ layer greater than 100 nm in thickness) has been previously achieved by additional high temperature processing steps (see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/760,545 filed Dec. 5, 1996 by Jia for “Epitaxial Oxides on Amorphous SiO₂ on Single Crystal Silicon”, claims allowed and issue fee paid). Such high processing temperatures (greater than 900° C.) present serious problems for processing on silicon and glass. For example, such a high temperature process cannot be used where there are active devices located on the silicon or where the melting temperature of the substrate is lower than the processing temperature.

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of forming highly oriented conductive oxides on SiO₂/Si substrates, such highly oriented conductive oxides preferably characterized as biaxially oriented.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a low temperature method of forming highly oriented conductive oxides on SiO₂/Si substrates.

[0011] Another object of the invention is to provide a thin film structure including a thin layer of biaxially oriented YSZ on a SiO₂/Si substrate for subsequent deposition of highly oriented conductive oxides, said thin layer of oriented YSZ formed by ion-beam-assisted-deposition (IBAD).

[0012] Still another object of the present invention is to provide a thin film structure including a structure of an oriented layer of Ba_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)TiO₃ (BSTO) and/or Ba_(1−x)Sr_(x)TiO₃ 0≦×≦1) on a biaxially oriented layer of RuO₂ on an ion-beam-assisted-deposited (IBAD) layer of YSZ on a SiO₂/Si substrate.

[0013] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a thin film structure including a structure of a biaxially oriented layer of La_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)CoO₃ on a biaxially oriented layer of CeO₂ on an ion-beam-assisted-deposited layer of YSZ on a SiO₂/Si substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention can be summarized as a thin film structure including a silicon substrate having a layer of silicon dioxide on a surface thereof, said silicon dioxide layer having a thickness of at least about 100 nanometers, and a layer of cubic oxide material deposited upon the layer of silicon dioxide by ion-beam-assisted-deposition, said layer of cubic oxide material characterized as biaxially oriented. Preferably, the cubic oxide material is yttria-stabilized zirconia.

[0015] The present invention can further include additional thin layers of biaxially oriented ruthenium oxide or lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide upon the layer of yttria-stabilized zirconia. In the case of lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide, an intermediate layer of cerium oxide is situated between the yttria-stabilized zirconia layer and the lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide layer. Also, the present invention can further include a layer of barium strontium titanium oxide upon the layer of biaxially oriented ruthenium oxide or lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide.

[0016] In addition to the thin film structures of the present invention, the present invention includes methods of forming such thin film structures, such a method including a low temperature deposition of a layer of a biaxially oriented cubic oxide material upon the silicon dioxide surface of a silicon dioxide/silicon substrate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 shows dependence of FWHM of (101) RuO₂ peak on FWHM of (220) IBAD-YSZ peak.

[0018]FIG. 2 shows x-ray diffraction φ-scans for a RuO₂ film on IBAD-YSZ on a SiO₂/Si substrate taken on the (101) reflection of RuO₂ (a), and the (220) reflection of YSZ (b).

[0019]FIG. 3 shows x-ray diffraction φ-scans for a RuO₂ film on IBAD-YSZ on a SiO₂/Si substrate taken on the (101) reflection of RuO₂ (a), and the (220) reflection of YSZ (b).

[0020]FIG. 4 shows a cross sectional view of a generic structure used to construct one embodiment of a biaxially textured conductive oxide on SiO₂/Si.

[0021]FIG. 5 shows an x-ray diffraction 2θ-scan for a LSCO film on SiO₂/Si including both a biaxially oriented YSZ seed layer and a CeO₂ structural template layer between the LSCO and amorphous silicon dioxide.

[0022]FIG. 6 shows x-ray diffraction φ-scans for a LSCO film on biaxially oriented YSZ on a SiO₂/Si substrate taken on the (110) reflection of LSCO (a), and the (220) reflection of YSZ (b).

[0023]FIG. 7 shows x-ray diffraction φ-scans for a LSCO film on single crystal YSZ taken on the (110) reflection of LSCO (a), and the (220) reflection of YSZ (b).

[0024]FIG. 8 shows the normalized resistivity versus temperature characteristics of an epitaxial LSCO film on LaAlO₃ and a biaxially oriented LSCO film on SiO₂/Si.

[0025]FIG. 9 shows an x-ray diffraction 2θ-scan for a LSCO film on Corning 1737 glass.

[0026]FIG. 10 shows x-ray diffraction 2θ-scans for a LSCO film on SiO₂/Si including both a biaxially oriented YSZ seed layer and a CeO₂ structural template layer between the LSCO and amorphous silicon dioxide and for a BSTO film on LSCO/CeO₂/IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The present invention is concerned with the formation of highly oriented conductive oxides on SiO₂/Si or glass substrates. Also, the present invention is concerned with intermediate substrate structures including biaxially oriented YSZ on SiO₂/Si for subsequent deposition of conductive oxides such as ruthenium oxide, lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide and the like.

[0028] In one embodiment of the present invention, highly oriented, preferably biaxially oriented, thin film layers of ruthenium oxide (RuO₂) or cerium oxide (CeO₂) are deposited upon an intermediate substrate structure of IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si. Other materials such as BSTO can then be deposited upon the structure of RuO₂/IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si. In another embodiment of the present invention, highly oriented, preferably biaxially oriented, thin films of LSCO are deposited upon an intermediate substrate structure of CeO₂/IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si.

[0029] By the term “biaxially oriented” is meant alignment along at least two axes (both normal to and in the film plane). The term “biaxially textured” is sometimes used in place of biaxially oriented.

[0030] Ion-beam-assisted-deposition (IBAD), a process that is able to deposit biaxially textured thin films on amorphous or polycrystalline substrates, has previously been used to prepare textured buffer layers such as YSZ on polycrystalline metallic substrates for growth of high-temperature superconducting YBa₂Cu₃O_(7−x) (YBCO) films. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,872,080 wherein the biaxially textured YSZ buffer layer produced by the IBAD is used as a template and subsequent YBCO films are grown by other deposition techniques.

[0031] In the present invention, an IBAD-deposited-YSZ layer can serve as a template to grow conductive RuO₂ thin films on technically important SiO₂/Si (the SiO₂ layer at least approximately 100 nm in thickness). Using the intermediate article of an IBAD-deposited-YSZ on a SiO₂/Si substrate, subsequently deposited, biaxially oriented RuO₂ thin films have been found to have a room-temperature resistivity of 37 micro Ω-cm. Thin films of dielectric Ba_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)TiO₃ (BSTO) were then deposited on the RuO₂/IBAD-YSZ/SiO₂/Si by pulsed laser deposition. The BSTO had a pure (111) orientation normal to the substrate surface and a dielectric constant above 360 at 100 kHz.

[0032] Further, the use of IBAD-deposited-YSZ as a seed layer for subsequent growth of well-textured or biaxially oriented and highly conductive LSCO thin films on technically important SiO₂(approximately 100 nm)/Si has now been achieved. The biaxially oriented LSCO thin films deposited at 700° C. on SiO₂/Si show metallic resistivity versus temperature characteristics and have a room-temperature resistivity of around 110 μΩ-cm. Use of this process to achieve these structures can overcome many technical obstacles to the growth of highly textured electronic materials on SiO₂/Si and may yield wide applications for electronic devices with new functionalities.

[0033]FIG. 4 shows the schematic illustration of the multilayer structure used to achieve the biaxially oriented LSCO on SiO₂/Si. As can be seen from the figure, both a biaxially oriented YSZ (a=0.514 nm) seed layer and a structural template CeO₂ (a=0.541 nm) are needed to accomplish the growth of highly oriented LSCO (a=0.384 nm). Here the structural template provides an optimum crystal structure for growth of thin films with desired textures. Efforts to grow LSCO films directly on biaxially oriented YSZ (IBAD-deposited-YSZ) resulted in (110) oriented films. This result is similar to LSCO films grown on single crystal YSZ substrates.

[0034] It is not necessary to have a CeO₂ interlayer for growth of highly textured RuO₂ thin films on IBAD-deposited-YSZ. Epitaxial RuO₂ thin films with (h00) orientation normal to the substrate can be deposited directly on single crystal YSZ.

[0035] Another significant result of the present invention is the use of the low processing temperatures. Though the LSCO films discussed above were processed at 700° C., the present technique can be easily extended to much lower processing temperatures, e.g., from about 450° C. to about 650° C. Biaxially oriented LSCO films have been successfully deposited on glass substrates at deposition temperatures of about 600° C.

[0036] The biaxially oriented cubic oxide material can be yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) or may be magnesium oxide and the like. Preferably, the biaxially oriented cubic oxide material is yttria-stabilized zirconia.

[0037] The present invention is more particularly described in the following examples, which are intended as illustrative only, since numerous modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0038] The structural properties of films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) on a Siemens D5000 four circle diffractometer with Cu Kα radiation and by scanning electron microscopy on a JEOL JSM-6300 FXV field emission scanning microscope. The resistivity and the residual resistivity ratio (RRR=_(ρ300K)/ρ_(4.2K)) of thin films were measured using a standard four-probe technique. RuO₂ films were patterned by ion-milling. LSCO thin films were patterned by chemical etching with a 1% phosphoric acid solution. The bridge was typically 500 μm in width and 2.5-7.5 mm in length. Gold contact pads were deposited by rf sputtering after patterning the RuO₂ or LSCO films. To assure a good contact between the LSCO and gold, the finished structure was annealed at 400° C. in oxygen for two hours. The dielectric properties of BSTO thin films were characterized with a GenRad 1689 Precision RLC DigiBridge.

EXAMPLE 1

[0039] Single-crystal boron doped silicon wafers with resistivities of 1-5 Ω-cm and (100) orientations were used as substrates. The substrates were ultrasonically cleaned in acetone, methanol, and deionized water. The native oxide on the silicon surface was removed by HF:H₂O (1:10) before thermally growing a 500 nm thick SiO₂ layer in dry oxygen at 1050° C. After SiO₂ growth, ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) was used to deposit biaxially textured yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) at room temperature on the amorphous SiO₂. It should be noted that the IBAD-YSZ layer is used only as a template (and not as a diffusion barrier) for subsequent growth of highly textured RuO₂. The thick SiO₂ serves as both an effective passivation layer for the silicon crystal and as a diffusion barrier between RuO₂ and silicon.

[0040] Conductive RuO₂ and dielectric BSTO thin forms were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) in another chamber. The PLD technique used a 308 nm XeCl excimer laser and operated at repetition rates of 2-10 Hz, producing 20 nanosecond (ns) pulses with an energy density of 2 joules per square centimeter (J/cm²). The substrate temperature and oxygen pressure were optimized at 700° C. and 0.5 mTorr, respectively, for deposition of RuO₂. The nominal film thickness for RuO₂ was 120-150 nm. The deposition conditions for BSTO were also optimized to obtain both a highly crystalline film and a minimal chemical reaction at the BSTO/RuO₂ interface, as needed for capacitors. The typical thickness of the BSTO films was 350-450 nm.

[0041] The XRD 2θ-scan on RuO₂/IBAD-YSZ/SiO₂/Si showed that the RuO₂ was purely (200) oriented normal to the substrate surface. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of an ω-rocking curve on the RuO₂ (200) reflection was near 3.7°, compared with a value of less than 1.5° for RuO₂ on epitaxial YSZ/Si. The in-plane orientation of the RuO₂ film is a strong function of the IBAD-YSZ quality as shown in FIG. 1. Here the FWHM values of the φ-scans from (220) YSZ were used as a measure of IBAD-YSZ quality. It is clear that the narrower the peaks in the φ-scan on (220) IBAD-deposited-YSZ, the better is the IBAD-YSZ biaxial texture, and the better the crystallinity of the RuO₂ layer. Also, the FWHM values from (101) RuO₂ are always 5˜6° smaller than those of IBAD-YSZ layers. It is believed that the top IBAD-YSZ layer has a smaller FWHM value than that measured by the XRD φ-scan because the FWHM value evaluated from XRD reflects the volume average from the whole film thickness. This has been confirmed not only by our experiments but also by others. For comparison, data from epitaxial RuO₂ on YSZ/SiO₂/Si (a structure of YSZ/SiO₂/Si is formed at a temperature above 950° C.) are also included in FIG. 1.

[0042]FIGS. 2 and 3 show the details of φ-scans from (101) RuO₂ and (220) IBAD-YSZ from two different samples of RuO₂/IBAD-YSZ/SiO₂/Si, where the IBAD-YSZ layers have FWHM values of 14.7° and 18.3° , respectively. The separation of two nearest peaks from the φ-scans of (101) RuO₂ is a direct indication of degeneracy of the RuO₂ (101) peaks from a diagonal-type alignment for RuO₂ on YSZ. These peaks merge together when the FWHM value of the IBAD-YSZ increases to about 18°.

[0043] From a four-probe resistivity measurement, the electrical resistivity of biaxially oriented RuO₂ on IBAD-YSZ/SiO₂/Si, which is in the range of 37 ±2 μΩ-cm, is not a strong function of FWHM value of IBAD-YSZ, where RuO₂ thin films are all deposited at 700° C. This value is comparable to that of single crystal bulk RuO₂. However, the residual resistivity ratio (RRR) of the RuO₂ films increases slightly with decreasing FWHM values of the IBAD-YSZ. A RRR of 2.5 for RuO₂ on IBAD-YSZ/SiO₂/Si can be compared with values of between 1 and 2 for polycrystalline RuO₂ thin films deposited by other techniques, above 5 from epitaxial RuO₂, and above 20 for bulk single-crystal RuO₂. It is well-known that RRR depends upon the degree of thin film perfection, impurities, and/or defect density. The reduced grain boundary scattering and the relatively large grain size (150 nm×80 nm on average based on scanning electron microscopy measurement) from the biaxially textured RuO₂ film might contribute to the relatively large RRR compared to polycrystalline RuO₂ films.

[0044] BSTO films deposited on biaxially oriented RuO₂ on SiO₂/Si have a pure (111) orientation. This is quite different from BSTO films on other bottom electrodes, such as platinum, indium-tin oxide, SrRuO₃, and YBa₂Cu₃O_(7-x), where the BSTO diffraction peaks exhibit a mixture of (110), (111), and (100), pure (110), or pure (100). On the other hand, BSTO thin films deposited on polycrystalline RuO₂/TiN reveal a mixture diffraction peaks of (110), (111) and (200). The dielectric constant of the BSTO on biaxially oriented RuO₂ is over 360 at 100 kHz. This value is lower than that of the epitaxial BSTO on SrRuO₃ on LaAlO₃ or of BTSO on YBa₂Cu₃O_(7-x), on MgO. Nevertheless, it is much higher than that of randomly oriented BSTO on other bottom electrodes. The dielectric loss, which monotonically decreases with increasing frequency from 100 Hz to 100 kHz, is around 0.05 at 100 kHz with zero bias.

[0045] It has been shown that biaxially oriented RuO₂ thin films can be deposited on SiO₂/Si by using IBAD-YSZ as a template. The degree of in-plane alignment of RuO₂ is directly related to the quality of IBAD-YSZ. The smaller the value of full width at half maximum of the (220) IBAD-YSZ peak, the closer the diagonal-type alignment between RuO₂ and YSZ. The electrical resistivity, on the other hand, is not a strong function of the microstructure of RuO₂ films. Nevertheless, high crystallinity enhances the residual resistivity ratio of the films due to the reduced grain boundary scattering effects.

[0046] The successful accomplishment of highly textured RuO₂ on SiO₂/Si can lead to high performance devices such as high dielectric constant and/or ferroelectric thin film capacitors on technically important SiO₂/Si substrates. Importantly, the relatively low processing temperatures used to form highly oriented oxide films on SiO₂/Si makes it possible to integrate high performance thin film components with active devices on silicon substrates.

EXAMPLE 2

[0047] Single-crystal boron doped silicon wafers were cleaned and oxidized and coated with a layer of biaxially textured YSZ as in Example 1.

[0048] Both a structural template film of CeO₂ and conductive LSCO thin films were deposited by PLD as in Example 1. PLD was performed at an energy density of 2 J/cm² and at repetition rates of 2-5 Hz. The CeO₂ film, with a thickness of about 20 nm, was deposited at about 700° C. and at an oxygen pressure of 200 mTorr. The oxygen pressure for LSCO deposition was optimized at about 400 mTorr. The substrate temperature was varied from about 600° C. to about 700° C depending upon the substrate selected using 600° C. for substrates such as IBAD-YSZ/glass and 700° C for substrates such as IBAD-YSZ/SiO₂/Si. The thickness of the LSCO films was about 200 nm.

[0049] The LSCO deposited on a very thin intermediate CeO₂ layer on biaxially oriented YSZ on SiO₂/Si showed only (100) diffraction peaks from a XRD θ-2θ scan. The growth of (100) oriented LSCO has great technical significance since highly conductive LSCO with (100) orientation is preferable for application as electrodes for ferroelectric thin film capacitors. FIG. 5 shows the XRD θ-2θ scan for a LSCO film on SiO₂/Si. The rocking curve from the (200) peak has a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of less than 4° compared with a value of 0.7° for LSCO on a single crystal YSZ substrate with a CeO₂ structural template.

[0050] The measured results demonstrate that biaxially oriented LSCO thin films on an underlying SiO₂/Si substrate have been accomplished by use of the IBAD-deposited-YSZ layer and the CeO₂ layer. This is a substantial improvement over prior art LSCO thin films where a uniaxial alignment was obtained on SiO₂/Si substrates by using Bi₄Ti₃O₁₂ as a template. As shown in FIG. 6, φ-scans from 0 to 360° show only four peaks 90° apart for both the LSCO (a) and biaxially oriented YSZ (b). The peak positions are 45° apart for the LSCO and YSZ layers, indicating a 45° rotation between the basal plane of LSCO and that of YSZ. This is an expected result considering the lattice parameters of LSCO, CeO₂, and YSZ. As a comparison, FIG. 7 shows the φ-can of a LSCO film on a single crystal YSZ with CeO₂ as a buffer layer. The only difference between FIGS. 6 and 7 is a relatively large FWHM value for the LSCO on IBAD-YSZ/SiO₂/Si as compared to LSCO on single crystal YSZ. The nature of in-plane texture is the same and shows no difference at all. It should be noted that the degree of in-plane alignment or orientation of LSCO is directly related to the quality of the IBAD-deposited-YSZ film. The smaller the FWHM value for the IBAD-deposited-YSZ (220) diffraction peak, the higher the crystallinity of the LSCO film. A FWHM value of 7.5° is obtained for LSCO on a SiO₂/Si substrate where the underlying IBAD-deposited-YSZ layer has a FWHM value of 11.1° from the (220) diffraction peak. In contrast, the FWHM value of the (220) reflection for LSCO on single crystal YSZ is 1.5° where the (220) YSZ reflection has a FWHM value of 0.44°.

[0051] Room temperature electrical resistivity of the biaxially oriented LSCO thin films deposited at 700° C. on the SiO₂/Si substrates was measured as about 110 μΩ-cm which is very close to values for epitaxial LSCO films on single crystal substrates such as LaAlO₃ (a=0.3793 nm). LaAlO₃ has a very good lattice match with LSCO. FIG. 8 shows the resistivity versus temperature (normalized to the room temperature resistivity) of LSCO films deposited at 700° C. on different substrates. Both films show metallic behavior except for the difference in the temperature coefficient of resistivity (TCR) for the films. The room temperature resistivity, however, is basically the same with a value of around 110 μΩ-cm. This value is comparable to sintered ceramic LSCO indicating, along with the metallic nature of the resistivity versus temperature characteristic, that oxygen deficiency in these films is not significant. It has been reported that LSCO films change from a metallic to an insulating behavior depending upon their oxygen content. On the other hand, a film with high crystallinity has a higher TCR, i.e., the resistivity depends more on temperature. This is expected as LSCO films with better structural properties and lower defect densities exhibit less grain boundary scattering of carriers and therefore enhanced temperature dependent electrical conductivity. Electrical resistivity of the LSCO films is dependent upon the substrate temperature during the deposition on SiO₂/Si with IBAD-deposited-YSZ as a seed layer.

[0052] Though the LSCO films of this example were processed at 700° C., the present technique can be easily extended to much lower processing temperatures, e.g., from about 450° C. to about 650° C. Biaxially oriented LSCO films have been successfully deposited on glass substrates at deposition temperatures of about 600° C. FIG. 9 shows the XRD 2θ-scans of a LSCO film on Corning 1737 glass with CeO₂/IBAD-deposited-YSZ as a buffer layer. The film shows not only (100) orientation normal to the film plane but also demonstrates good in-plane orientation. The XRD φ-scan spectra of LSCO (220) diffraction are similar to the data presented in FIG. 6 except for a slightly larger FWHM value of the diffraction peak.

[0053] Thus, it has been shown that biaxially oriented LSCO thin films can be grown on the technically important SiO₂/Si substrates that are commonly used in microelectronic devices. To deposit (100) oriented LSCO thin films on amorphous SiO₂ with in-plane alignment, a biaxially textured YSZ seed layer prepared by IBAD and a structural template CeO₂ layer are first formed on a SiO₂/Si substrate. An important feature of this invention is the low processing temperatures and reasonably good film texturing quality. A room temperature electrical resistivity of around 110 μΩ-cm for the biaxially oriented LSCO thin films deposited at 700° C. on SiO₂/Si is found to be very close to the epitaxial LSCO films on single crystal LaAlO₃ substrates.

EXAMPLE 3

[0054] Dielectric BSTO films were deposited by PLD on RuO₂/IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si substrates and LSCO/CeO₂/IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si substrates. The substrate temperature during deposition was maintained at 680° C. in order to obtain highly crystalline films and to minimize chemical reactions at the BSTO/electrode interface. The thickness of each BSTO film was from about 350 nm to 450 nm.

[0055] The BSTO films deposited on biaxially oriented RuO₂ layers on IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si substrates have a pure (111) orientation. Such an orientation is also observed for BSTO on epitaxial RuO₂ electrodes. The BSTO films deposited on biaxially oriented LSCO layers on CeO₂/IBAD-deposited-YSZ/SiO₂/Si substrates have a (110) orientation as shown in FIG. 10. As a comparison, LSCO films on electrodes of platinum, indium-tin oxide, strontium-ruthenium oxide and yttrium-barium-copper oxide show a mixture of diffraction peaks of (110), (111), and (100), pure (110), or pure (100).

[0056] Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific details, it is not intended that such details should be regarded as limitations upon the scope of the invention, except as and to the extent that they are included in the accompanying claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A thin film structure comprising: a silicon substrate having a layer of silicon dioxide on a surface thereof, said silicon dioxide layer having a thickness of at least about 100 nanometers; and, a layer of cubic oxide material deposited upon the layer of silicon dioxide by ion-beam-assisted-deposition, said layer of cubic oxide material characterized as biaxially oriented.
 2. The thin film structure of claim 1 wherein said cubic oxide material is yttriastabilized zirconia.
 3. The thin film structure of claim 1 further including a layer of biaxially oriented ruthenium oxide upon the layer of cubic oxide material.
 4. The thin film structure of claim 2 further including a layer of biaxially oriented ruthenium oxide upon the layer of cubic oxide material.
 5. The thin film structure of claim 1 further including a layer of oriented cerium oxide upon the layer of cubic oxide material.
 6. The thin film structure of claim 2 further including a layer of oriented cerium oxide upon the layer of cubic oxide material.
 7. The thin film structure of claim 5 further including a layer of biaxially oriented lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide upon the layer of cerium oxide.
 8. The thin film structure of claim 6 further including a layer of biaxially oriented lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide upon the layer of cerium oxide.
 9. The thin film structure of claim 3 further including a layer of barium strontium titanium oxide upon the layer of ruthenium oxide, said layer of barium strontium titanium oxide characterized as having a (111) orientation.
 10. The thin film structure of claim 4 further including a layer of barium strontium titanium oxide upon the layer of ruthenium oxide, said layer of barium strontium titanium oxide characterized as having a (111) orientation.
 11. The thin film structure of claim 7 further including a layer of barium strontium titanium oxide upon the layer of lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide, said layer of barium strontium titanium oxide characterized as having a (110) orientation.
 12. The thin film structure of claim 8 further including a layer of barium strontium titanium oxide upon the layer of lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide, said layer of barium strontium titanium oxide characterized as having a (110) orientation.
 13. A method of forming thin film structures including a biaxially oriented layer of a conductive oxide upon a silicon substrate having a layer of silicon dioxide on a surface thereof, said silicon dioxide layer having a thickness of at least about 100 nanometers, said method comprising: depositing a layer of a cubic oxide material by ion-beam-assisted-deposition upon said silicon dioxide layer, said layer of cubic oxide material characterized as biaxially oriented; and, subsequently depositing a biaxially oriented layer of a conductive oxide upon the cubic oxide material.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein said cubic oxide material is yttria-stabilized zirconia.
 15. The method of claim 13 wherein said conductive oxide is selected from the group consisting of ruthenium oxide and lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide.
 16. The method of claim 13 wherein said conductive oxide is ruthenium oxide.
 17. The method of claim 13 wherein said conductive oxide is lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide.
 18. The method of claim 13 further including depositing a layer of barium strontium titanium oxide upon the biaxially oriented conductive oxide layer. 